Your Roadmap to Teacher Communication this School Year

Communication between parents and teachers is a key component of a good education, but if your child has dyslexia then it’s absolutely essential. 

Standard operating procedure for most public schools is to communicate with you 2 times per year at parent-teacher conferences (for maybe 10-15 minutes).  When your child has a learning disability, you get one (just one!!) more meeting per year to discuss the IEP or 504 plan. This is not often enough to keep your finger on the pulse of your dyslexic child’s progress.  You will need to be the one to initiate more frequent communication. 

 For these more frequent check-ins, I suggest email as the main mode of communication for a few reasons: 

• It’s easy for you
• It’s easy for the teacher
• You’ll have a “paper trail” to take with you to future IEP meetings.

Here’s a sample email communication schedule for the school year.

 Check-in  #1 - First week of school

This is an email to each teacher(s) introducing yourself and expressing your desire to work together in the coming year. In this email, you should lay out any key bits of information that you think will help them get to know your child faster. 

 For example: 

1. Jack has slow processing.  He needs you to give him a good long pause when you ask him a question.
2. Jack loves art. If there is ever an option to have him use that in his work, it would be great.
3. Jack is better at producing answers verbally rather than in writing.  Please use this strategy to check for understanding whenever possible.
4. Jack loves to learn so our main goal is to have that continue!

See how that short list gives the teacher a quick snapshot of who he is without having to memorize his 30-page IEP document!?!?  The teacher will likely be very grateful!

Check-in #2 - 4-6 weeks after the start of school

1. An email to the classroom teacher with the following questions 

• How’s he doing?
• Do you have any concerns?
• Is there anything we can be reinforcing at home? 

 2. Also an email to Special Education teacher asking for updates on IEP goals.  Ask them how often you can expect progress updates moving forward. 

This can also be an opportunity to share any concerns you have or observations you’ve made with either of these teachers.

Check-in #3 - Fall Parent-Teacher Conference

Don’t skip it!

Take notes so you have your paper trail.

Request time to talk to Special Education teacher too, if that’s not built in. 

Check-in #4 - December

(send earlier enough that you get response before Winter Break)

1. An email to the classroom teacher again asking:

• How’s he doing?
• Do you have any concerns?
• Is there anything we can be reinforcing at home? 
• Share any concerns or observations you’ve made.

2. An email to the Special Education teacher for an update on IEP goals if they haven’t been proactively sending them to you.

Check-in #5 - Spring Parent-Teacher Conference

Be sure to attend and take notes. 

Request time to talk to SpEd teacher too, if that’s not built in. 

Check-in #6  - 3-4 weeks before school ends  

This is your final check-in of the year.  This is a big one.  This is not only to see how the final stretch is going, but also to start summer planning.

Key questions to ask the classroom teacher:

• What does he need to work on most this summer?
• What topics are coming up next year that we can help develop background knowledge and vocabulary about while on break?
•  Which accommodations worked well and which didn't?

Key questions to ask the Special Education teacher:

• Can you show me the results of any end-of-the year evaluations that are done to measure progress?
• Which of his goals were met and which were not? (keeping in mind that goals are set for one year from the date of your IEP, not necessarily by academic year)
• Which accommodations worked well and which didn't?

I hope this helps you feel a little more organized and intentional in your communication with the school this coming school year.   Add these dates to your calendar and come back to this blog for prompts on what to write when the time comes. 

Do you have other ways you like to keep the lines of communication open?

Do you have ideas of questions to ask that are insightful?